William Herschel discovered NGC 1344 = H I-257 = h2542 on 9 Oct 1790 (sweep 972) and recorded "cB, iR, vgmbM, about 1.5' diameter." His position was accurate, though for some reason the RA in the NGC is 21 seconds too large. John Herschel independently found this galaxy on 19 Nov 1835 and assumed it was new, but his position was 10' too far north and it was catalogued again as GC 715 = NGC 1340. So, NGC 1344 = NGC 1340, with NGC 1344 the primary designation. The RA was corrected in Robert Baker's 1933 "Catalogue of 985 Extragalactic Nebulae in a Region in Fornax and Eridanus".

200/250mm - 8" (10/13/81): fairly faint, slightly elongated N-S.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/26/94): bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 2.3'x1.0', well concentrated with a very bright 30" round core and a bright stellar nucleus. Forms an isosceles right triangle with mag 9.7 SAO 194325 6' E and mag 10.4 SAO 194317 5.5' N of center. Outlying member on the north side of the Fornax I cluster.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb